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What It Is To Be

by Friends In America

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  • What It Is To Be CD (EXTREMELY LIMITED)
    Compact Disc (CD) + Digital Album

    The CD version of our debut record. Gatefold card case with lyric sheet.

    Update - we found some more CDs kicking about that we hadn't sold, so we're sticking the last few on here! If you didn't get one when they were originally being sold, now's your chance! Extremely limited so get in quick!

    Includes unlimited streaming of What It Is To Be via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

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1.
What it is to be Fine lines and in-betweens (oh no) Drunken fumbles, nicotine Wake the neighbors Singing in the streets (oh no) What it is to be What it is to be A job you hate but can't ever leave Another punch up Blues and Greens A chip shop window smashed to smithereens (oh no) What it is to be
2.
Gaffe 05:05
The wallpaper wilted and it caught the wind Blew straight up and tore in half Now the room stays still inside itself I thumb through balled up yellow notes A list of things I'll never need I feel the night bend back my skin So I bite my lip when I let it in If you leave that's when I'll go The chimney stack calls out a cough It's black lung bark is getting worse Stick figures are playing in my soot Abandoned kitchen tops and chairs A mouse trap laying wide awake I washed my hands eight years ago Of everything inside this "home". If you leave that's when I'll go Where can I go?
3.
You're 03:54
Buttercups all around In ampersands right where I found you Crying your eyes out, losing the war Shuffling slipper feet Trying to hard not to sing but my smile cracks your surface And you break into song You poured all your soul into me Left your toothbrush right next to my sink From that moment forward I knew I might love you too much Fossils and rocks Dusted on up by the dirt of cantankerous back roads And an un-tuned guitar You were a shimmer in my dark A brief flicker and you were gone Now I need you to come back, my doors still ajar I poured myself into a drink Caught your specter there just haunting my porch Pleading, "You're better than this, you're better than this..." "You're better than this, you're better than this..." Now as my stomach's stitch travels up towards my chest I feel close to death, but I'll never admit That I'm better than that, and we're better than this
4.
You move quiet, so quietly Hayley you're so silent (oh silence...) Please bury your head down As the ebb and the flow strips the beige off your bones All your half glass laments Semi circle of friends left you alone I compensate with caring nods Some tried advice and afterthoughts The drain clogged day just drifted off and off and on You're more than the sum of your precious parts Hayley, you've got more than those shaking arms Walk it off if you can. No, don't run away Your mothers eyes, your fathers stubborn brow They're with you every ache and every hour The wind chime wanders back and forth Air makes music on it's own The seeds we buy but never sew Dulcet joys and moonlit tones Familiar pains that saw then slow To baby steps on your freezing flaw The dreams that die but don't let go There's Hayley, she's just holding on
5.
Brother ∞ 00:50
Hey, are you alright? If you leave that's when I'll go
6.
Retreat The ballast that's balancing me Is holding my heels to the concrete With the tin can rattle of this old bus shelter I'm free A bottle of clockwork and stream Above the below's that keep calling, "Crawl on past my feet" I'll divvy up all my evenings with an ounce of change Step outside when it rains Run laughing through a fire escape Pull out my lights and ask if they'll glow In a room filled with nothing bad Ba da da ba ba Ba da da ba ba ba ba Concede The dust of your daily defeats Sweep them under the rug where you'll find me With the toe tap rhythms and this awful weather I'm free A bundle of buttons and seams left to wait While your world keeps on working. Go on, work through your week I'll divvy up all my evenings with an ounce of change Step outside when it rains Throw vodka in your mothers face Pull out the lights and ask if they'll glow In a room filled with nothing but... I never said I was a captain Yeah, I said that I'd quit smoking I'm down to two a day I'm dizzied up by little motions And my table top's just covered in loose change Some coffee rings and some markers I nicked from that place I'll divvy up all my evenings with an ounce of change Step outside when it rains Fall forwards and land right on my faith I grasp for light, and I'm asking you to shine but you say; "No no no no no no...not today" "You take the front door, and I'll go the other way" "We've shone for months, go on and give me a couple of days" Yeah, I love my life but I won't keep it in a cage I never said I was a captain Not today
7.
My teeth stop their chatter when I hop on the bus All the coughing commuters that just keep buttoned up While I wrestle my wallet, tear my old ticket stubs Press my head against the window until my cheek makes it's mark I'm sorry, I need this, just an hour to reflect On the lights of my life and all the dark coming next Stroke my stubbled up face and keep my demons at bay I let them out every evening, lock them up every day Then they say "Hey...are you alright?" "Are you walking that line?" A bottle of wine and I can shine "I'm just asking, are you alright?" My indigo outlook, yeah, my beaten path blues Blur together all you monsters and your grey shades of truth That'll ache through my eyes until I drink them both blind I'm making mountains out of molehills with some handsome pricks' wife I'm steaming, we're leaving I slip in the snow Whatshisname's away on business Whatshername...oh...I don't know She ducks out for a smoke, and that's when I go through her coat Take a tenner for my taxi Delete my number off her phone and then I go "Hey...are you alright?" "Are you fucked up or are you fine?" I hide my headache in the night "I'm just asking...are you alright?" Do you have the time? See, I've got a little but never as much as I'd like The downtrodden questions, yeah, they're all coming around for seconds I heard a whisper say "Matt's missing out on life" All my petty indecisions, they travel in my circles They're turning my diamonds into coal I'm asking if I'm alright because I guess I'll never know I'll fight my way out through the fire Find some warmth within a flame I'll trade my beers for bottled water Crawl my conscience out the drain Shake off all of my hang overs and I'll feel my head again And you're asking if I'm alright Well am I alight? Well am I?

about

The debut record from Friends In America. Lovingly constructed over the past two years in Hamish's bedroom. Two years of unbelievable stress, but also of intense joy. A totally DIY effort. We are so excited to let you hear the result of these two years of our lives.

credits

released June 26, 2013

Friends In America is Matthew Rawlings, Hamish Black, Liam Chapman and Scott Duffy. Former bassist Fraser Stewart recorded his parts before he left the band in 2011.

Recorded, mixed and mastered by Hamish Black in his bedroom from 2011-2013.
Additional mixing and mastering with Marshall Craigmyle at Old Mill Studios
Drums recorded with help from Barry Mop
Produced by Friends In America

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about

Friends In America Glasgow, UK

Friends In America is Matthew Rawlings (vocals, lyrics, guitar) and Hamish Black (guitar, production, instrumentation). Musical soulmates and (figurative) brothers since 2010.

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